


The Toothless to his Hiccup

by MyChemicalKlance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adorable Lance, Baby Keith (Voltron), Baby Lance (Voltron), But he's cute, Fluff, Halloween, Kid Hunk (Voltron), Kid Keith (Voltron), Kid Lance (Voltron), Kid Pidge | Katie Holt, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Smitten Keith (Voltron), Trick or Treating, but they're babies so, keith is kinda a brat, klance, shiro is a dork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyChemicalKlance/pseuds/MyChemicalKlance
Summary: Shiro, a new dad takes his adorable son trick or treating for the first time. The only problem? Lance thinks his dragon costume is a kitty cat.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Allura/Romelle (Voltron), Keith's Father/Krolia (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 323





	The Toothless to his Hiccup

**Author's Note:**

> Me: comes out of hiding to randomly post an 8000 word Halloween fic about baby Klance in the middle of May.

Colorful bags crinkle loudly in Shiro’s hands as he rushes to the nearest bus stop from the party store. He makes it just as the bus is turning the corner and shot-guns his second packet of mini M&Ms that he had lost in the race, grimacing at the hole in the flimsy bag it fell out of just minutes earlier. The handles aren’t faring much better. A pathetic thread of plastic stands between Shiro’s success and a bus stop covered in soggy M&Ms. 

Why he waited until after classes on the day of Halloween to pick up Lance’s costume and the candy is beyond him and could only be chalked up to the insanity that comes along with raising a fifteen month old, by himself, in graduate school. Yikes.

It has just started drizzling out when the bus pulls up to the shopping center and he plops down in a chair, trying to make his giant sized body and all the bags only take up one seat. An older man passing by makes sure to poke a rogue bag spilling ever so slightly into the aisle aside with his cane. The woman behind him, likely his wife pats him in the butt for it and sends Shiro an apologetic smile. 

He slumps further in his seat and the bus rumbles along.

They pass by an elementary school doing a costume parade in the parking lot out front. He imagines holding an older Lance’s hand while he proudly marches in his costume around the school and it sparks a bittersweet wave of emotions. There’s so many things he’s looking forward to doing with Lance, so many experiences he can’t wait to share with the love of his life. This time of year marks one year since he became a dad and as much as he has enjoyed seeing his son grow and heal from the fragile state he was in when they were thrown in each other’s lives, he can’t help but want to freeze time and hold his tiny Lance close. 

When Shiro finally gets off the bus stop just outside of his apartment complex, it’s absolutely pouring and he can’t help the pout that forms at the thought that his baby’s first Halloween might be spent bundled up in a coat under his umbrella instead of the magical night of trick or treating he had planned. Nothing can be done about it though so he trudges up two flights of stairs and prepares himself for whatever mess Matt has created in the few hours he’s been babysitting. 

He fishes his key out, turning the knob and shouldering his way in only to be stopped by a pale, freckled arm in his way.

“Wait!” Matt screams as he shoves his head in between the crack of the door, cheeks squishing comically. “I mean...uh, hey Shiro. What, uh w-what brings you home so early?” 

“Matt.” Shiro sighs. 

He pushes his way through the door with his shoulder, shoving Matt’s face aside with the bags of candy in his left hand. 

“What have you done to my house and or my baby?” He finishes setting down the bags, scanning the room to see if anything is out of place. 

His friend weasles his way back in front of Shiro, doing what he does best. Deflecting.

“Why would you think something’s wrong with your baby? I’m a perfectly good babysitter. The little dude is sound asleep in his crib right as we speak.”

“Okay so you definitely wrecked my house then.” Shiro grunts, pushing forward into the living room, which is seemingly devoid of Mess. 

Matt follows along skittishly, fighting to find a place to pass Shiro and struggling in the narrow hallway which Shiro’s form takes up most of. 

“Shiro. Baby. Honey. I assure you, if you just give me like ten minutes-” 

“Uh uh. Not happening. And don’t call me baby, you know i’m taken.” Shiro pauses abruptly, trying to wedge his body out from where Matt has trapped them in the hallway shoulder to shoulder.

“Taken?” Matt questions, thinking for a minute before he collapses further into Shiro, laughing uncontrollably. 

“What you mean-” He snorts. “You mean that, that dork that works at the university library with the glasses-” He gasps for breath, trying to continue his charade. 

“The one you’ve had like, tops three conversations with? Oh god I can’t.” Matt wipes a tear from his eye, slouching just enough for Shiro to push past him, shoving just a little extra hard so Matt topples to the floor. 

“He’s not a dork. And you’re one to talk. You’re the biggest nerd I know and you wore glasses until last year.” He defends, stepping over his useless roommate. 

The dork, ahem man in question, Shiro’s crush does in fact work at the university library part time. He’s a graduate student like Shiro. He has tan skin, honey highlighted hair, and tends to tuck the longer pieces of his bangs near his face back with his glasses when he searches for books under the library system.

They met on a horrible day last month when Shiro had no babysitter and was forced to attend his classes with a grumpy, teething Lance strapped to his chest. A few of his professors were fairly understanding. Coran, his astronomy professor didn’t even mind when Lance left a trail of cheerios under every seat in the aisle and even gave him a plastic model of Saturn to slobber on through lecture. 

His math professor though, was not happy about the baby. He kicked Shiro out of class after Lance made the slightest gurgle in the back seat, forcing him to walk out of the lecture hall with the entire classes’ eyes on his back and to top it off, Lance chucked his bottle down the steps when they left, milk trickling down the ugly, multi-colored carpet. He didn’t bother going back to get it. 

Shiro spent the next two hours at the library waiting for his bus back to the apartment and hiding from the world. He found a couple of picture books Lance liked in the small children’s section and brought them up front to check out for the week and there he was.

Adam. 

Damn did that man make checking out books look sexy.

As he was shamelessly gawking over the angel scanning his picture books and piling them up across the counter, he was broken out of his reverie by the baby he forgot was strapped to his chest throwing a slobbery teething toy down on the counter. Right on the guy’s hand.

Just when he was about to cut his losses and haul ass out of there, he watched as the man quickly returned the toy to Lance and in the same stupid baby voice Shiro is constantly ridiculed for by all his friends, proclaimed Lance the cutest slobbery baby to ever exist. 

Ever since that day, they have an agreement that Shiro must bring Lance to the school library every couple of weeks so Adam can get his cuteness fix (and Shiro too). Recently, they even meet up on days when Shiro doesn’t have his baby, drinking coffee together while Adam sorts drops offs or pulls rentals off the stacks. 

It was all a blissful dream until he and Matt decided to get wine drunk one night and Shiro accidentally spewed his gooey, hopeless feelings out to his asshole of a best friend.

Matt woke up bright eyed and with a treasure chest of mocking material to last for a lifetime.

Shiro woke up with a hangover, a crying baby and his phone open to a shockingly well coordinated wedding pinterest board.

  
  


He finally breaks free down the hallway, seconds away from peeping his head into Lance’s room when his foot makes a wet squelch on the wood floor in front of the bathroom. 

The giggling behind him stops. 

He takes a deep breath, looking down at the puddle. 

“Matthew?” 

“Yes?”

“Ten minutes.” He says, stepping over the puddle and pushing the bedroom door open.

“Yes, Maam.” He hears Matt shreak before scrambling into the bathroom and likely using every one of their clean towels to wipe up the mess he’s made. 

The minute he steps through the door, big blue eyes are staring delightedly through the gaps in the crib. Shiro is immediately comforted by the sight of a happy, sleepy baby waiting for him. 

As he steps closer, Lance slowly rolls over onto his tummy, securing tiny hands to the bars of the crib to stand up on shaky legs. 

Shiro scoops him up immediately, pressing his nose into silky curls threaded with gold from tummy times spent in the park this past summer. 

“Hey pumpkin, did you have a good nap?” He pulls away so he can see Lance’s face. It’s almost a shock every time he sees how blue those eyes are, deep and endless and constantly shifting, speckled in a kaleidoscope of colors when the light hits them right. 

“Dada!” Lance squeals, casting him a gummy smile spotted with tiny chompers that can finally do some damage on a bowl of cereal. The poor baby was so late getting his teeth Shiro was worried he’d be eating mushy bananas for the rest of his life. 

“Hi Lancey! Are you ready for your first Halloween?” He says, laying on the baby talk thick. 

Lance does a little wiggle in his arms in response, kicking those feet like he was born to dance. 

Shiro pops him into the air a little and catches him in the crook of his elbow. The room erupts into giggles.

They walk over to the changing table and Lance plops right down on his bottom when his feet reach, immediately stripping his socks off because that’s about as much as he can help with the changing. Shiro can’t be sure because Lance is so young and might just be playing copy cat but he’s been helping Shiro change him by ripping his own socks off since the moment he could get a good hold on them. At some point the little guy caught on that changing is one of the things Shiro struggles with most with one functioning hand and it warms his heart that he wants to help in some capacity. It took a lot of convincing on Matt’s part for Shiro to realize that asking for a little help once in a while isn’t a bad thing. In small ways, Lance is saying the same thing.

He takes the ball of socks being shoved at him and grabs the costume from the floor. 

“Ready to put on your Halloween costume?” Shiro asks, tugging gently at Lance’s feet. 

It takes a moment to wrangle it out of the plastic with one hand. He grabs the little beanie hat first that has the dragon’s face and ears on it, shaking it in front of Lance who patiently waits on top of the table. 

Little fingers reach out towards it, practically vibrating in excitement. “Dada! Kitty!” 

Right. Lance thinks his costume is a kitty, not a dragon. 

To be fair, Toothless looks a lot like Shiro’s own cat, Luna who Lance absolutely adores so Shiro can’t really blame the little dude. 

A dragon was not Shiro’s first idea for the first Halloween costume. He had something a little more traditional in mind. Maybe a farm animal or a classic pumpkin because who can resist a baby in a chubby pumpkin costume. Regardless, the costume is adorable because Lance is not just a dragon but rather the Toothless to Keith’s Hiccup.

Last month after daycare pick up, a very composed but obviously distressed Krolia “Mama” Kogane approached Shiro and told him that Keith, her son and Lance’s best friend turned not-so-secret secret admirer, is still very much in his dragon phase and refuses to be anything other than Hiccup but that he also refuses to be Hiccup if Lance is not his dragon. 

When questioned why she was so stressed out about the matter, she confided that Keith threatened to trick or treat naked if he can’t match with his Lancey. The cold stare he received when he started cackling about the situation revealed that Keith Kogane, the hard headed three year old on a fruit gummy fueled mission to woo his crush would absolutely make due on his threat if necessary. This was no laughing matter. In front of Krolia. 

And that was that. The costume issue was solved and Shiro was promised ten extra minutes of official picture taking time added to the evening for having to find a Toothless costume last minute. 

Before Lance can slobber on his hat too much, Shiro sneaks it out of his hands and onto his head, adjusting so that the ears are correctly on the side. 

The boy freezes up the moment the hat is on his head and Shiro hesitantly waits with bated breath, wondering if he’s going to throw the thing right back off onto the floor and along with it any plans Shiro had of getting dressed in a timely manner. But then little hands reach up to feel the ears and horns sprouting off the top of his head and his face lights up with joy. 

Shiro sighs in relief. One step down, two more pieces to go. 

“Okay, Lance you ready to get the rest of it on?” He watches as Lance finishes playing with his hat and his eyes lock onto Shiro’s own head. 

Then, the familiar feeling of his tiny hands pulling gently at the shaggy white bangs in what has become sort of a customary good morning gesture since Shiro started growing his hair out. 

He uses the distraction to unbutton Lance’s pajama onesie, coaxing his arms and legs out and replacing it with the black onesie of his costume, tail and all. 

They mindlessly chat with each other as Shiro figures out how the wings strap onto the costume.

“You’re in a good mood today, aren’t you bug? Not a grump grump like when your teeth were hurting, huh.” Shiro makes a silly face and smiles back at his happy baby, pushing back into the tiny fist resting on his forehead.

“No Grum-grum!” Lance squeals, mimicking Shiro’s face. 

“Good thing Krolia saw your molars coming in. She’s like a super mom.” 

He recalls the woman having had enough of Lance’s whining one day after day care pick up, wordlessly plucking the boy from Shiro’s hands, prying open his mouth and declaring his molars were coming in with a self satisfied smirk. She sent him to the store with a list of Keith’s favorite biscuits and teething toys and he has never been so grateful for that woman in his life.

They finish up getting the dragon wings on and then Shiro’s prosthetic and head out to the kitchen for a snack before they head out.

“Excited to go trick or treating with Keith tonight? And Hunk and Pidge?” Shiro asks, feeding Lance some applesauce and pieces of his sandwich. 

“Keef! Keit!” 

“Keith’s either gonna be really happy or really upset when you finally say his name correctly.” He tickles Lance’s belly for good measure which earns him a loud giggle. 

They’re still working on his other friends’ names. Keith was the first person he called by name after Dada, of course. Even uncle Matt, who tried his hardest to trick Lance into calling him Mama, didn’t get more than a string of mmm’s until Lance started daycare. 

The doorbell rings just as Shiro is scooping the last bite of applesauce into Lance’s mouth. He scoops him up quickly, Lance’s hands latching right back onto his face and shirt collar as he makes his way to the front door wondering who it could be. 

The person at the door continues to press the button incessantly until Shiro adjusts Lance onto his shoulder and pulls it open, sending a well manicured fists nearly into his jaw.

Lance squirms around, trying to get a good look at their visitor and pats his own cheeks with a very cute “Oh no!”, which just about kills Shiro.

He pauses as he sees a wide eyed Allura, Lance’s daycare teacher and her girlfriend Romelle, who are dressed as Sailor Scouts.

“Shiro! Pardon the aggressive knocking, but someone is very excited to see Lance and is driving me absolutely mad!” Allura says with an unfaltering smile, Romelle nodding rapidly beside her. 

Confused, he’s about to remind them that they see Lance at least three times a week before the answer becomes perfectly clear.

“Lancey!” A blur of black hair comes darting from behind Romelle’s legs as Keith practically attaches himself to Shiro’s pants, desperately trying to see his Lance. “Lancey, it’s Keith! Mommy said you gon’ be my dwagon for Hawwo-Halwen...twick or twreat!

Shiro chuckles, moving to sit Lance down gently on the welcome mat so Keith can greet him. He already wants to grab his camera. Keith looks precious in his tiny vest and armor, obviously hand crafted by Krolia. He’s already cupped Lance’s cheeks by the time they are eye level, looking between his face and the dragon hat with total adoration. 

“Keith, remember we have to be careful playing with Lancey okay, he’s still a baby dragon.” Shiro cuts in when he sees Keith accidentally get a little rough with the hug he now has Lance captured in. 

To be fair, Lance doesn’t seem to care much anyways. He happily grabs the longer ends of Keith’s hair and babbles in a way only the two seem to understand. 

“I thought you guys were gonna meet us at the block party?” He turns to ask the girls who were already filling their camera rolls with pictures of the toddlers. Romelle directs Allura to crouch on the ground for a better shot of the boys before replying to Shiro. 

“We were already there helping the Holts and their neighbors decorate but Krolia called me and told me she’d pay me overtime for babysitting duty if I came and brought Keith here early because she’s trying to make Halloween cookies and he was being more dragon than dragon tamer.” Both Romelle and Shiro direct their gaze to the rambunctious toddler and back and that’s all that needs to be said. 

“Let me just grab Lances stuff real quick and we can leave.” Shiro says, sidestepping the puddle of Keith and Lance and running to grab his beloved ergobaby, backpack, an extra coat for Lance, and some snacks.

“Not so fast, Shiro!” Damn, he almost escaped before Matt noticed. 

The bathroom door opens to his roommate, now donned in Luke Skywalker garb with a pile of sopping wet towels in his hands.

“Tried to escape without my notice, huh?” He asks, continuing to speak as he fusses with the towels in the laundry room. 

“I think you’re forgetting our agreement, Takashi. I watch little man on my days off, including stinky diaper duty, you wear a costume-” He pulls out a pair of black kitty ears and a tail from behind his back “of  _ my  _ choosing!” 

By this point, both of the girls and the toddlers have poked their heads back into the apartment, watching as Matt marches forward and plops the ears onto Shiro’s head. 

“Awww Shiro’s matching his little kitty-er dragon?” Allura claps, bopping his ears. 

He begrudgingly latches the tail onto his belt buckle and runs back out the door, not for the first time questioning his choice in best friends. 

“Wait, Shiro actually can I get a ride with you guys?” Matt follows them out, locking up behind. 

“I thought you were meeting your parents at their house to get pictures with your sister first?” 

“We were gonna, but they just texted that it was easier to just meet all together at the party. Plus if I decide to get shwasted tonight, you can drive me home.” 

“Great.” Shiro sighs a resigned huff, tearing Lance away from Keith so they can walk out to the cars. 

Allura makes a confused sound behind them, her and Romelle holding Keith by the hands so he can’t latch back onto Shiro. 

“Matthew, my dear, why would you be getting inebriated at a children’s halloween party?” 

“Well i’m glad you asked Allura!” Shiro groans. Matt trots up to the front of the group so that he may walk backwards and face his audience. 

“What you may not know is that suburban parents get _lllllit_ once their children are passed out from candy overdose and that is when we, the smokin hot babysitters swoop in, flirt a little and get showered in free vodka drinks.” 

God, how much has being a dad changed Shiro that just the thought of getting drunk on Halloween makes him a little queasy? Just two years ago he was in a frat house on Halloween, trying to live out the experiences he missed in his actual college years by drowning himself in boozy, trash can concoctions. Now he only occasionally gets wine drunk on Thursday nights with his roommate and parent friends if they can get someone to watch all the kids for a few hours. 

He wouldn’t trade all the sexy frat boys in the world for the sight of Lance in his arms right now, smiling and chewing on the end of his tail.

Getting the boys to separate long enough to drive them a few streets over to the Holt neighborhood’s yearly Halloween block party is more of an ordeal than Shiro expects. Keith nearly bonks his head on the car door trying to get in as Shiro is buckling Lance up in his carseat. It takes some serious candy bribing to get the toddler back in his seat in Romelle’s car for the short drive. 

As they drive, Shiro looks in his rearview mirror to see Lance in his carseat, grabbing onto his feet which are adorned in little felt claws at the end of the onesie. He makes little kitty sounds to himself as they go. 

He pulls into an open spot up the street from the cul-de-sac where the main festivities would be happening. The neighborhood where the Holt family lives has a lot of families with young kids, which makes it perfect to take toddlers to trick or treat at a few houses and then play games and have food once they get tired of visiting each house. Fortunately, the sky has also cleared up. 

It' the perfect October night he envisioned. 

He turns to Lance, who drops one of his feet upon having his dad’s attention and smiles at him.

“Okay bug, we’re here! Are you gonna let daddy take some cute pictures of you and Keith before it gets dark outside?” 

Lance nods very seriously as if he’s understood everything Shiro just said, before kicking his feet wildly and yelling “Keef!” 

Shiro takes a moment to let this image sink in, seeing his baby so happy and excited for whatever is to come. This’ll be their first real Halloween to celebrate together. Even if Lance won’t remember it, Shiro will memorialize the entire night in pictures so he can look back at it forever. Exactly one year ago was the day Shiro flew across the country to bring his godson and now child home, just three months old and so fragile Shiro was scared to even hold him. Now, they’re here. Shiro wearing a dorky cat outfit and Lance slobbering shamelessly on his costume and Shiro can’t help but think it’s one of the best moments of his life. 

He hurries out of the car once he sees Romelle, Allura and Keith park a few houses down. Even from this distance he can see that judging by the grumpy pout on Keith’s face and Romelle frantically wiping his face down with a wet wipe that Keith got his promised chocolate. 

“Lancey! Shi Shi! Twick-or-twreat time!” Keith yells as they approach, peeling himself away from the offending wet wipe and dragging Shiro’s arm towards the first house of the street. 

“Keith! Don’t run into the street! Oh my god, your mom’s gonna kill me!” Romelle yells, chasing after him.

“Hold on, Keith, we have to go find Hunk and Pidge first and get some pictures.” Shiro says, grabbing Keith’s hand and struggling to hold onto a squirming Lance who has caught sight of his friend and is determined to get down to his level. 

Keith stomps his foot. “But candy!” He whines. 

“Keith, no. That’s not how we get what we want, is it?” Romelle intercepts, taking her role of babysitting seriously because while Keith’s mom mostly hires her to have fun with Keith while she’s working, she knows she would be upset if Keith got away with this behavior just because he’s not with his mom. “Now, what do we say?”

Keith looks up from his feet, guilt on his face and gently tugs Shiro’s prosthetic hand. “M’sorry Shi shi. I wait.” Then he gives Shiro the big puppy dog eyes that will likely have Shiro wrapped around Lance and Keith’s fingers for the rest of their lives, no matter what mischief they get up to. 

He bends down to the three year old’s height, giving Lance an opportunity to plant a sneaky, uncoordinated kiss onto Keith’s forehead. “It’s okay buddy. Just a few more minutes and you can get trick-or-treating, okay! You can even help Lance walk to a few houses, how does that sound?” He asks, using a thumb to wipe the trail of slobber off Keith’s face.

Keith’s face lights up as he jumps up and down. “Yah, pwromise i’ll hold onto him tight so he won’t fall!” 

“Okay, buddy I trust you. You’re getting to be a big boy, aren’t you? Helping me watch Lancey!”

Keith puffs his chest up. “M’ strong! I take care of him cus I love him so much!” 

Once Shiro’s eyes start tearing up, he quickly hugs Keith to his chest and then scoots him to the sidewalk so they can get this show on the road. He desperately wishes he had caught that on video for Krolia to see.

The group makes their way down the street, admiring the decorations and the lights that people are just beginning to turn on as the sunset approaches. When they approach the Holt home, Colleen and Sam are outside with Pidge and Hunk, the 18 month old and 3 year old dressed as Rey Skywalker and Poe Dameron. 

When the toddlers spot each other, Shiro sets Lance down on the grass and allows Keith to take his hand to help him toddle over to their friends. The first few steps are a little wobbly on the uneven ground but once they get going, they make it all the way to the set of four pumpkins lining the driveway. A perfect place for Shiro to whip out his camera and start taking pictures of them being cute. 

Pidge and Hunk seem happy to see Keith and Lance, giving hugs and receiving some more of Lance’s customary forehead kisses. Pidge and Lance topple to the ground in their excitement and Hunk picks them back up, adjusting their costumes like the big brother he tends to be in the group. 

They try their best to pose the kids for some pictures, Pidge, Matt and Hunk in some action poses, Keith with Lance sitting on his lap and them pretending to fly. Matt grabs the camera from Shiro at some point and gets some pictures of him and Lance together proclaiming, “You need a new picture for your wallet!”

Once the sun has set, it’s time to go trick or treating. Colleen and Sam stay at the house to hand out candy, planning to meet everyone again at the party. 

Shiro scoops Lance back up, reminding a pouty Keith that he’ll get tired if he walks the whole way. “I’m gonna hand him off to you at the end of the driveway, okay buddy.”

“Okay, Shi-shi.” Keith complies, walking right beside them with his giant candy bag as they head to the first house. Behind them, Shiro hears Allura and Romelle cooing at Keith’s attachment.

“He’s like a little duckling. Look how big Shiro looks compared to him!”

Keith hears and turns around, sticking his tongue at his babysitter. “M’not little! I’m a big boy! Shi-shi says so!” 

Romelle runs up to him, tickling his sides. “Oh, I’m sorry Keith. Shiro’s just very tall but I bet you’ll be even bigger than him when you grow up, huh?”

Keith can’t help but laugh as his sides are poked at but as soon as they near the end of the driveway, he straightens up, a determined look on his face. 

“Romy, no tickling! Time to twick-or tweat!” He jumps up and down, making grabby hands at Shiro. 

He chuckles, handing Lance off as Matt passes Pidge off to Hunk. 

“Alright, off you go kiddos. Do you remember what to say when you go up to the door?” Allura asks, crouching down to their level. 

Keith and Hunk are quick to yell, “Trick or Treat!” while the younger two just kind of yell anything along with them. Matt says the only reason Pidge doesn’t talk much is because she is perfecting the english language in her head before she bothers speaking. She’s gonna surprise them all one day with a better vocabulary than the adults. 

Keith takes Lance’s hand in his right hand while the other holding his bag rests on Lance’s back in case he wobbles back. They walk up to the front door, eagerly waiting for someone to come out with a bucket of candy to choose from. 

An older couple opens the glass door as Keith and Hunk recite their “trick or treats.” 

“Well, who do we have here?” The older woman crouches down, holding out the bucket of candies better for smaller children. “I see some star wars characters, a dragon, and maybe a viking?” She asks Keith. 

He stashes a few bags of chocolates into his bag before pulling a distracted Lance closer to his side. “I’m Hiccup and Lancey is my drwagon, Toothless! Isn’t he cute?” 

The couple chuckles. “He absolutely is! How about we give Toothless some dragon pretzels. He might be too small for candies.” She hands them to Keith, as Shiro is holding Lance’s bag where they wait in the driveway. 

“Thank You!” Hunk remembers to yell as they trot back to their guardians, showing off the treats they got. 

The night continues that way for another hour with little casualties save for the increasing amount of chocolate on Keith’s face from him sneaking treats while they walk up to the doors. Romelle threatens to take them away but falls victim to his puppy eyes once again. 

What no one catches until they see the empty wrappers later is that Hunk snuck quite a few reeses’ cups while Keith was taking all the blame. 

They get to the last few houses at the end of the block and it’s clear the toddlers are getting a little tired of walking. Hunk is struggling, practically hauling Pidge back to Matt who takes her in his arms where she immediately falls asleep. The boys are doing a little better, still eager for the excitement of the night but in need of a break. 

“Okay, boys. How about we do one more house and then we go see what snacks and games they have over at the party?” Shiro asks, crouching down to fix Lance’s hat and give him a little pick me up kiss on the cheek. 

Lance motions to be picked up and he indulges him for a moment, giving his tired legs a break. 

“Keith, Hunk do you see a house you wanna go to?” 

The boys look around the cul de sac of well decorated houses before Keith immediately points at one. Of course it’s the one on the end, decked out in a full graveyard scene in the front yard, fog machines and creepy music playing. The one house they’ve been avoiding all night for this exact reason. 

“That one! I wanna go to that one!” Keith jumps around pulling at Romelle and Allura’s hands across the court. 

“Keith, I don’t know. That house is pretty spooky. You might not like it when you get up there.” Romelle tries, but Keith isn’t swayed at all. 

“Please, Romy. M'not scared!”

“Ehh...Hunk do you want to go?” She asks, already knowing the answer. 

Hunk looks between Keith’s pleading eyes and Romelle, mentally struggling with the decision before settling back at Romelle and fiercely shaking his head back and forth. 

“Alright, how about I go with them this time?” Shiro says, grabbing Keith’s hand and bringing them over to the house. There’s a lot more kids at this one, screaming and running around. 

He’d rather hold Lance for this one but once they get close, Lance is eager to get down, used to going with Keith to the door. 

“Keith, you stay right in front of me okay. No running off.” 

They make it past the cemetery, through the fog and up to the door with no issues. Keith isn’t a kid that’s afraid of much and Lance is generally happy as long as the people around him are. If anything, Shiro thinks he saw him try to wiggle his butt to the music before he realized there wasn’t really anything to dance to. 

The porch is crowded with kids and parents waiting for their turn at the candy bucket. They make it up to the door and wait while Keith meticulously picks out the best type of chocolate bar, settling for a mini kit kat. 

It’s on the way back from the house that everything goes downhill. One minute Shiro’s watching Keith happily play in the fog machine with Lance next to the grass and the next minute a group of bigger kids is charging by, knocking the toddlers out of the way. A kid in a gruesome rubber mask even has the nerve to get down on their level and roar before scampering up to the porch and out of Shiro’s reach. 

Just as he considers going back to throw down with a middle schooler, crying below him knocks him back to reality. Keith is crouching down next to a sobbing Lance, using every bit of strength he has to try and pick his friend up and comfort him as he’s seen Shiro do many times. 

He carefully gets Keith’s attention, tucking him to his side while he scoops Lance up onto his shoulder. It doesn’t happen as often anymore but it’s times like these he really wishes he still had two fully functioning arms so he could carry both boys away quicker. 

Keith has tears pouring down his cheeks, same as Lance but they look more frustrated than scared. Frustrated that he’s not as big as he thought he was. 

The little boy wordlessly follows Shiro back to the group who were preoccupied taking pictures of Hunk and another neighbor dressed as BB-8 for his moms to see later. 

A harsh wail sounds from the baby in his arms, alerting everyone to the situation. Allura and Romelle come running towards the boys, consoling a distraught Keith that looks on the verge of a meltdown himself. Matt shoots him a concerned look and he shakes his head, gesturing for him to keep Hunk and Pidge distracted. They don’t need four crying babies. 

Shiro steps away to some quiet tables where kids were carving pumpkins earlier in the evening. He rubs Lance’s back and breathes deeply, hoping his baby will be calmed by the rhythm of his chest. 

The wailing continues for some time, turning Lance’s cheeks a deep cherry red. 

“It’s okay, pumpkin. It’s all over. Daddy’s got you.” He mumbles reassuring words into his son’s hair.

Eventually the crying stops and Lance snoozes on his lap, exhausted from his fussing. 

A little later, the rest of the group comes to his table bearing gifts of apple cider and barbeque foods. Hunk, Matt and Pidge plop down on the grass with their plates and organize their candy by Matt’s ‘Indisputable Ranking of Candy Goodness’. Keith sits down at Romelle’s feet, looking at his candy bag as if to consider doing the same but leans into her calf instead, playing with the ankle strap of her heels. 

“How’s the little guy doing?” Allura asks, sitting down next to Shiro and running her fingers through Lance’s curls. 

Shiro rubs his thumb to red stained cheeks, letting out a soft sigh. “I think he’s okay just startled really bad. He still doesn’t like loud noises very much.” 

“What happened? Did something at the house scare them?” Romelle asks, trying to get Keith to eat more of his corn on the cob. He looks morosely at his plate, poking the kernels with his fork.

“No, they weren’t scared at all. They were playing in the fog machine and then a group of kids pushed them down and yelled at them. Little jerks slipped away before I could stop them.” Shiro fumes.

Romelle gasps, putting her hand to her chest. “Who pushes down a couple babies?” 

“That’s like-that’s like taking candy from a baby! They literally could have taken candy from the babies and it would have been better!” 

“I don’t know.” Allura chimes in. “Keith might have gone full viking if they took his candy from him, right Keith?” She ruffles his hair as well, something that usually gets him riled up.

Keith does a little shrug, going back to picking at his food.

Oh no. Shiro knows that look. They’re all used to Keith’s varying spectrum of moodiness but this is a Keith who looks truly defeated. This is a Keith that’s gone through every option he can come up with in that little hard head of his and is still at a loss for what to do. A Keith that feels like he let someone down who he loves. The last time he saw this look was when the boy got a little too heated and said something unkind to his mom. When he saw that she was visibly upset, he couldn’t find the words to make it right. He was so consumed with guilt he made himself sick for a whole week. 

“Hey Keith, come here buddy.” Shiro says, patting the part of his lap that’s free. 

Keith hesitates but only for a second, pushing up off the grass and climbing his way up onto Shiro’s thigh. 

The girls join Matt in conversation, knowing Keith’s disdain for being the center of attention. 

“You okay, buddy? You didn’t even touch your cupcake yet?” Shiro lightly prods. 

Keith scoots closer on his lap, softly squeezing Lance’s foot where it presses into his side and watching it curl up in the dragon footsie. 

“S’my fault.” He mutters. His voice wobbles just on the cusp of fresh tears. 

“Keith. What do you think is your fault?” He asks, though he’s pretty sure he knows what the answer will be.

A tear slides down Keith’s cheek which he hastily wipes away. “My fault Lancey got sad.” 

The sorrow in his quaky voice makes Shiro’s heart break. 

Why the hell is it taking Krolia so long to finish a batch of cookies? 

He’s so not qualified to be dealing with an emotionally compromised three year old. They haven’t gotten to that chapter of the baby books yet!

“Oh, Keith. No. It’s not your fault. You did so good taking care of him all night.”

The boy hugs his arms close to himself, shaking his head. He mumbles a few more words but they seem aimed at himself more than Shiro.

“Buddy, can you look at me? Look at Lancey?” They both look at Lance nuzzled into the crook of his arm. He’s smiling ever so slightly in his sleep, fists tucked under his chin.

“Does he look like he’s sad?” Shiro asks, to which Keith shakes his head again. 

“Lancey wasn’t sad because of you, Keith. He just got surprised by those kids when they made a loud noise. I know you think you couldn’t do anything to help him but I promise, Lance was so lucky to have you right there with him.” 

“But, I can’t pick him up. Wanted to make’m stop cryin’ like you did.” He sniffles, wiping the remaining tears off on his arm band. 

“I know, buddy but you’re getting so big I bet you’ll be able to pick him up before you know it. Lance is still pretty little. He really cares about you like you do him but sometimes he might need me to help him out because I'm his dad. Just like sometimes you need your Mama and Daddy when you don’t feel good, right?” 

Keith brightens up at that, taking a deep breath and nodding in agreement. “Mhhmm.” 

“Speaking of which.” Shiro points towards where Krolia and Keith’s dad, commonly referred to as Tex walk down the street holding an absurd amount of tupperware containers. “Looks like your parents have joined the party.”

Keith hops off of his lap as his mom gets closer, hugging at her legs when she’s in reaching distance. 

“Hey, sweetheart. Sorry we took so long, your father thought it would be a smart idea to turn the oven twice as hot so we could leave earlier. Promise you won’t be so inept in the kitchen when you get older. I swear- Shiro I see you laughing over there don’t even get me started on you boys.” Krolia carries on while fussing with Keith’s costume. She sends Shiro a few confused looks when she notices Keith’s blotchy cheeks and he assures her they should talk about it later. 

Tex eventually grabs Keith out of her hands and launches him into the air a couple times, his favorite game when he needs cheering up. 

In another neighbor’s yard, a stereo starts to blast the Monster Mash. A large group of kids are lining up for one of the evening’s games.

Allura gets up from her spot, brushing off her dress. “Oh Keith, Hunk it looks like they’re lining up for the donut on a string game. Why don’t we head on over?” 

Keith starts to run along with Hunk before he stops, looking back at Shiro for some kind of permission.

Shiro smiles, peeling himself off the wooden bench and readjusting Lance’s sleepy, floppy body back into his arm. He meets Keith, nudging him along. “Come on, we’ll come watch. Maybe Lance will wake up in time to cheer you on.” 

Keith smiles a big, toothy smile and races ahead.

Lance does wake up halfway through the donut challenge. Shiro feeds him some snacks while they cheer on the competitors. Hunk is absolutely hilarious, spinning around in circles trying to chase his powdered donut. Keith struggles at first, having to stand on his tippy toes just to get a lick. Shiro cheats a little bit and jogs Lance over to him once they’ve finished eating so he can plant a motivational peck on Keith’s forehead. 

Every parent in the audience laughs at the determined face Keith’s makes as he goes for his donut with renewed vigor. 

Keith ends up winning, beating out a 6 year old boy dressed as Captain America. He’s awarded a goody bag full of little toys that will be destroyed within the week. 

They stick around long enough for Matt, Romelle and shockingly Allura to get a decent buzz on some secret spooky jungle juice before Colleen and Sam show up and shuffle them off back to their house, offering to take care of them for the night.

By nine, it’s just Shiro and Keith’s parents trying to figure out how to pry Lance out of a sleeping Keith’s arms without setting off a bomb. 

“Maybe we just do it quickly like a bandaid.” Tex offers.

“He may be more upset if we just leave without saying goodbye. I say we wake him up, he’s going to anyway in the car.” 

“Whatever we do, let’s make it fast. I think Lance needs a change. He’s making that wet diaper face.” Shiro grimaces.

He works on easing Lance out of Keith’s grasp while Krolia eases her son out of sleep. 

She turns to him as she cradles Keith to her chest. “Shiro, i’m not sure what happened to make Keith so upset earlier but I just wanted to thank you for being so patient with him. I know he isn’t always the easiest to handle but we are really grateful for your help with his vocalizing feelings. He really loves you and Lance.” 

“Thank you, Krolia but it’s no trouble. We love him just as much. That’s what he was upset about, actually. Lance got scared and he wanted to help make it better. He just has too big a heart for that little body.” Shiro smiles, stepping closer as Keith begins to wake up.

“Hey, buddy. Lance wanted to say goodnight before we head home.” 

He grasps Lance under the bum, allowing him to lean into Keith’s space. The boys cuddle, half asleep but with the same soft affection they always have. Keith nuzzles his nose into Lance’s hair before his eyelids shut once again, too tired to put up a fight. 

“Goodnight, guys!” Shiro yells to the Kogane’s as they walk to their respective cars. “Not gonna lie, I was still holding out for Keith to streak across the block. Matilda from daycare showed me the video of last summer’s pool party.” He chuckles, ducking into his car when Krolia makes to come after him. 

The drive back to the apartment is quiet. Lance is lulled asleep once again by the gentle rocking of the car as they pass through the dimming neighborhoods. The bright orange and purple lights once illuminating the streets are shut off one by one as people wrap up for the holiday. 

As they enter the apartment, Shiro is quick to kick his shoes off and plop himself on the couch, Lance resting on his chest. Just a few minutes, he thinks as he rests his eyes.

  
  
  


His head shoots up as wiggling on top of him brings him back to the land of wakefulness. Right, wet baby needs to be changed. He checks his watch and sees it was only a few minutes he nodded off.

“Sorry, bug. Haven’t fallen asleep on you like that since you were a tiny bug.” He pokes his index finger under Lance’s chin, wiggling it until Lance’s hand grabs on. 

“Come on, let’s get ready for bed.” 

Lance is changed, wiped and back in his crib in record time. He’s snoring before Shiro can even turn the light off. Shiro can barely do the same to himself before he’s snoring in his own bed, cat ears still atop his head. 

  
  
  
  


The next morning, Shiro is making pancakes for breakfast while Lance has his morning play mat time in the living room. When he’s finished setting up the high chair, he returns to find Lance covered head to toe in chocolate. 

His jaw drops, eyes scanning the room to figure out where he got it from. Lance smiles at him with a cheeky grin, reaching his arms out to be held. 

“Dada! Yum yum!” 

“Lance, where did you get that from?” 

No response. Lance gets impatient when Shiro doesn’t move closer and stands up on wobbly legs. 

Underneath. A single, empty packet of mini M&Ms. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why i'm posting this right now. I started writing it two Halloweens ago and suddenly felt like this week, I needed more adorable baby Lance on this site. Obviously, there's some missing back story that exists. I may write it, I may not. I've learned to have very low expectations from myself when it comes to finishing my fics. If you are new here, I don't suggest reading my other stories. The next parts have been eighty percent written for the past three years. yikes. 
> 
> Here's a little back story in case I don't get to it for a while:
> 
> Shiro officially adopted Lance when he was 3 months old. Lance's mom was an old friend of his and they both suffered an accident. We'll assume in a world where prosthetics can be as advanced as Shiro's in the show, Shiro just hasn't gotten one yet so he doesn't have much mobility of his right arm.
> 
> Lance meets all his friends at the daycare he goes to while Shiro is taking his graduate classes. I wanted to make Keith a little older so he could properly be infatuated with Lance lol. Hunk is like the big bro of the group. 
> 
> I took some creative liberties with Krolia's character. I figure some part of her is probably quiet and stoic, considering Keith is as well. But in a world where she isn't raised as a Galra, she's probably a little more eccentric and down for a good time. I'm imagining her hair is still pink and she can have a dramatic streak a long as it's the right time and place. Tex is a big goofball and they love each other very much. No tragic separations. 
> 
> Okay! Thanks for reading! Hopefully i'll write some more this summer but if not, you can probably catch me in other people's comments.


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